In this way the clever doctor washed the rancour from his heart with the water of words. Thus do those who are aggrieved speak harshly. Be not idle when thine enemy has fallen. Dash out his brains when thou art able, for delay will efface the grudge from thy mind. So overcome was the Cādi by his vehemence that he exclaimed, “Verily, this day is a hard one.” He bit his fingers in amazement, and his eyes stared at the doctor like the two stars near the pole of the lesser bear. As for the latter, he went abruptly out and was never seen there again. They in the court clamoured to know whence such an impertinent fellow had come. An official went in search of him, and ran in all directions, asking whether a man of that description had been seen. Some one said: “We know no one in this city so eloquent as Sadi.” A hundred thousand praises to him who said so; see how sweetly he uttered the bitter truth! STORY OF THE HONEY-SELLER A man of smiling countenance sold honey, captivating the hearts of all by his pleasant manner. His customers were as numerous as flies around the sugar-cane—if he had sold poison people would have bought it for honey. A forbidding-looking man regarded him with envy, being jealous of the way his business prospered. One day he paraded the town with a tray of honey on his head and a scowl on his face. He wandered about crying his wares, but no one evinced desire to buy. At nightfall, having earned no money, he went and sat dejectedly in a corner, with a face as bitter as that of a sinner fearful of retribution. The wife of one of his neighbours jokingly remarked: “Honey is bitter to one of sour temper.” It is wrong to eat bread at the table of one whose face is as wrinkled with frowns as the cloth on which it is served. O sir! add not to thine own burdens, for an evil temper brings disaster in its train. If thou hast not a sweet tongue like Sadi, thou hast neither gold nor silver. STORY ILLUSTRATING THE FORBEARANCE OF GOOD MEN I have heard that a debased drunkard caught a pious man by the collar. The latter received his blows in silence, and in forbearance lifted not his head. A passer-by remarked: “Art thou not a man? It is a pity to be patient with this ignorant fellow.” The pious man replied: “Speak not thus to me. A foolish drunkard collars one by the neck in the thought that he is fighting with a lion; there is no fear that a learned man will contend with an inebriated fool.” The virtuous follow this rule in life—when they suffer oppression they display kindness. STORY ILLUSTRATING THE NOBLE-MINDEDNESS OF MEN A dog bit the leg of a hermit with such violence that venom dropped from its teeth, and the poor man could not sleep all night through pain. His little daughter chided him, saying: “Hast thou not teeth as well?”